Who is J.D. Power, Anyway?

In my position as research assistant at VIPdesk, I often list and quote companies that top and make various J.D. Power & Associates surveys and lists but until recently, I never really thought much about the J.D Power and Associates firm or even the man behind the noted and respected company.

Getting a top spot on one of these prestigious lists is quite a badge of honor, sort of the customer service answer to the film industry’s Academy Awards. Apparently J.D. Power really has the power – the power to elevate brands, the power to differentiate one company from its competitors and the power to drop brands into customer service oblivion – not based on J.D Power’s own opinions but rather those of the brand’s customers. That’s how the company that was started in 1968 by James David Power III, makes its determinations – by using the data supplied by customers of the brands they are evaluating.

Today it’s owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies and the company is regarded as the leader in “Voice of the Customer” research. With headquarters in Westlake Village (near Los Angeles), the company employs more than 600 people, who would actually be the “Associates” mentioned in the company’s name. But let’s go back to 1968 when Dave Power (he goes by Dave rather than Jim).

After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross, a four-year Jesuit school in Worcester, Mass., he spent some time as an officer in the Coast Guard before earning an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School. Power began his business career with the Ford Motor Company as a financial analyst. He went on to do marketing research for General Motors Buick and GMC truck divisions – a path that seems to have set the course for the rest of his career. He translated that marketing research into customer satisfaction research when he started his own firm in 1968, J.D. Power and Associates.

Since then, the company has grown into what it describes as a “global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors across a variety of industries, providing customer satisfaction research, market research, automotive forecasting, social media research, and performance improvement programs.”

As it was back in 1968, the company is still best known in the auto industry but also provides ratings in other sectors as well including travel, finance, building and more. The company’s studies are independently financed and later sold for marketing purposes.

Its founder and namesake received the Automotive Hall of Fame’s Distinguished Service Citation in 1992, which is given yearly to the industry’s seven most accomplished leaders.

Although he sold the company in 2006 to McGraw Hill, he is still chairman. Power can sometimes be found as an adjunct professor of marketing at California State University, Northridge or even speaking to the boards of directors of leading companies around the world. His alma mater’s alumni department (The Wharton School) claims Power’s business peers refer to him as the “high priest of customer satisfaction.”

It’s good to know that the person who gave a voice to the customer more than 40 years ago can still be heard imparting his business wisdom in today’s ever-changing climate.